Patriarch Daniel of Romania received Bucharest’s Honorary Citizenship for his contribution to the spirituality and education of the Romanian people.
The Patriarch of Romania received the award from Bucharest Mayor Gabriela Firea at the Patriarchal Residence Thursday.
Mayor Firea was accompanied by a delegation of the Bucharest City Hall including the former Minister of Culture and National Identity George Ivascu who read out the Laudatio, stressing the academic and pastoral activity of Patriarch Daniel.
“I have the immense honour to hand over the title of honorary citizen of the Municipality of Bucharest – the capital of Romania – to Patriarch Daniel of the Romanian Orthodox Church,” Mayor Gabriela Firea said on December 12.
The mayor of Bucharest mentioned that she made the “wholehearted” proposal to the General Council of the Municipality of Bucharest to grant the distinction and recalled “the immense contribution of the Patriarch of the Romanian Orthodox Church to the spirituality and education of the Romanian people.”
The mayor stressed the support of Patriarch Daniel “for all vulnerable categories, for children, the elderly, the sick, for families”, underscoring “the entire involvement in the life of our Romanian society and of the community in the capital of Romania.”
“For all these things our gesture is too small and the words too poor. However, the symbol is important,” concluded Mayor Gabriela Firea.
Patriarch Daniel said that he is “very grateful for this special title”, which also belongs to the Church.
“This honour is not only granted to us, but also to the Romanian Orthodox Church because, together with all the collaborators from the Diocesan Centre and the Patriarchal Centre, we have tried to make a contribution to the cultural, spiritual, and social development of the capital during the current patriarchate.”
The Patriarch of Romania thanked for the good cooperation existing between the Patriarchate and the City Hall “in the cultural, social-philanthropic and public domain.”
“We are considering many churches in the city that have been consolidated or restored, some even built from the ground up, and we particularly appreciate, with much gratitude, the contribution that the General City Hall and the Municipal Council have shown to the construction of the Romanian People’s Salvation Cathedral,” said His Beatitude.
The Patriarch of the Romanian Orthodox Church also spoke about co-responsibility.
“All of this employs us even more now and in the future because it cannot be expected from a city to be more and more beautiful, if each of the citizens does not contribute, especially those who have the responsibility of running the administrative and cultural institutions,” the Romanian Patriarch noted.
The decision to grant the honorary title was adopted at the meeting of the General Council of the City Hall of Bucharest on January 31, 2019.
Source: Basilica.ro
